


Not the Lucky Charm I was Looking For

by Nomolosk



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-05
Updated: 2020-07-31
Packaged: 2021-03-04 03:54:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 12,903
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24557248
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nomolosk/pseuds/Nomolosk
Summary: During an akuma fight, Ladybug calls for her lucky charm and gets something completely unexpected.
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug
Comments: 76
Kudos: 266





	1. Chat Blanc

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Antibug and Chat Blanc sittin’ in a tree](https://archiveofourown.org/works/21432070) by [Maggies_Scribblings](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Maggies_Scribblings/pseuds/Maggies_Scribblings). 



> I recently read a fic with a subverted Chat Blanc/Antibug by [Maggies_Scribblings](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Maggies_Scribblings), and it gave me the idea for this!
> 
> Also, many thanks to Mostlovedgirl, Lady Kae, and Stellarstylus for their beta services!

Ladybug decided to call her lucky charm before re-entering the fight, since this particular one had already dragged on far too long. The Otherdimensionator-- Hawkmoth’s latest attempt to steal her and Chat Noir’s miraculouses-- had used some kind of weird weapon to fling her away from the fight, unfortunately leaving Chat Noir behind to take the brunt of all the evil goodies and twisted allies the akuma was pulling into their reality. Fortunately, he couldn’t seem to do that a lot. He had to use what he pulled before summoning anything else. Ladybug expected her lucky charm to be an indicator of which other heroes to call on. What she actually got was… not that.

“Chat B-Blanc??” Ladybug shrieked, catching a remarkably startled-looking anti-hero. 

The absolute last thing she’d expected from her lucky charm was the akumatized version of her own partner. With a yelp, she dropped her not-partner and leaped backward, instinctively twirling her yo-yo into a shield. With a yowl of his own, Chat Blanc twisted in mid-air before landing on the roof in a crouch, ice-blue eyes locked on hers, and one hand grasping the silver baton on his back.

Neither moved for a tense moment before both shouted, “Where is it? Where is the akuma?”

Ladybug’s eyes narrowed in time with Chat Blanc’s. The sun reflected off his silver bell.  _ Silver, not matte white,  _ Ladybug noted in passing.

“What did you say?” she asked carefully, testing the waters. 

“Where is the akuma, my lady?” he nearly growled the words. “Just tell me, and then this nightmare can be over.”

Ladybug blinked, then hesitantly pointed right back at him. 

“Nice try, Malchanceuse,” Chat Blanc called. “But I won’t let you distract me—not this time! Now, where is your akuma? Please! Let me save you!”

Now utterly confused, Ladybug stopped spinning her yo-yo and stood straight. “What are you talking about? I’m not the akuma here, Chat Blanc, you are!”

“Don’t listen to her lies!” Chat Blanc yelled, “I know you’re still in there, Chanceuse. Fight him! I can’t—I can’t protect Paris without you!”

“Chat Blanc!” Ladybug shouted to be heard over his deranged accusations. “It’s me! I’m not an akuma, you have to believe me!”

Chat Blanc stopped growling and eased up to a standing position, though he still kept one hand on his baton and didn’t come any closer. Not that Ladybug was going to get closer to him, either, if she could help it-- although she’d have to if she wanted to free him of the akuma.    
  


“You’re not Chanceuse,” he stated baldly.

“Well that’s just mean,” Ladybug said, crossing her arms. “Sure, I’m a little clumsy from time to time, but saying I’m not lucky is going overboard.” She cocked her head a little. “Wait, you said that like it’s my name. What… do you think my name is?”

“Malchanceuse, of course. I’ve… I’ve fought you before, but…” Chat Blanc trailed off, losing some of his tension. The hand resting on his baton coming up to scratch behind his ears. “That was a different timeline, and Thumper and I  _ fixed _ it! This shouldn’t be happening, not again.”

Ladybug took a hasty step back. “A… another timeline?” she asked.

“Yeah… you… you weren’t supposed to ever know,” he said, looking a little shamefaced. “I’m sorry, Spots. I… obviously I’ve failed you some way. But please, just tell me where the butterfly is and… and things can go back to the way they’re supposed to be.”

“But… I fought  _ you _ before.” Ladybug paused. “In an alternate timeline. That  _ Bunnyx _ and I erased.” 

Chat Blanc’s ears twitched as he eyed her. “You… haven’t demanded my miraculous yet,” he said slowly.

“And I’m not going to!” Ladybug flailed her hands. “Despite your…  _ condition, _ it’s still too dangerous for us to know each other behind the masks. And I’m not handing over  _ my _ miraculous either, no matter how pure you think your intentions are. The wish is too dangerous to use, especially for an akuma.”

Confusion spread over Chat Blanc’s features, and it suddenly struck Ladybug that he wasn’t acting like his previous akumatized self.

“What are you talking about? And why would you change your suit design?” Chat Blanc asked plaintively. 

“I didn’t…?” Ladybug shifted a little. She was really starting to worry. Chat Noir was waiting for her! But first she had to make sure she was actually bringing helpt to the fight. Her earrings chirped- one minute down, four to go. His ears twitched as he caught the distinctive sound.

“You really  _ aren’t _ an akuma!” Chat Blanc’s eyes widened. Then he abruptly dropped cross-legged to the roof and waved her away. “Go feed Tikki. Obviously there’s more going on here than I assumed on arrival. We can talk when you get back.”

“Ok, but… I  _ really _ need to get back to the fight!” Ladybug said, already edging toward an air-conditioning unit of sufficient size for her to hide behind, a little miffed at his high-handed dismissal.

“And I’m willing to help with that, but first I need to know what’s going on!”

Ladybug only hesitated a moment before darting behind the unit, carefully scanning the sky for helicopters that might be covering the latest akuma battle before detransforming. Tikki wolfed down her cookie in record time, sharing a concerned glance with her chosen, but choosing to remain quiet. When she was ready, Marinette transformed again and stepped back out from behind the unit, ready to see Chat Blanc already upon her and reaching for her earrings. But he was still sitting right where she’d last seen him, eyes closed, mouth in a thin, dissatisfied line.

“Chat Blanc?” Ladybug said. His eyes cracked open, a frown furrowing his brows. That blue stare of his unnerved her like nothing else could.

“You’re being timid. You’re never timid unless things have gone very, very wrong. So,” he said, standing slowly, “what’s gone wrong this time?”

“Well…  _ you, _ ” Ladybug said. “I called for my lucky charm and I got…  _ you. _ And you’re the akumatized version of my partner, but you’re not acting like him. Plus, you seem to think that I’m supposed to be someone else.”

Chat Blanc narrowed his eyes again. “And you’re sure it wasn’t an  _ anti- _ charm?”

Ladybug rolled her eyes. “Come on, do I look like Chloe to you? I mean, I can do a pretty mean impression of her by now, but we don’t really have the time for that.”

Confusion covered Chat Blanc’s features again, and he had just opened his mouth when a drawn out yell caught their attention. Chat Blanc had just enough time to turn around before Chat Noir slammed into him, sending them both skidding across the roof to stop just in front of Ladybug.

“Oh my gosh, Chat! Are you okay?”

“L-Ladybug,” Chat Noir wheezed, looking up at her. “S-sorry to drop in like this,” he started to get up, wincing. “If you need more time, I… I can try to get it for you, but…” his hand went to his chest as he collapsed onto the roof. “I might need a minute,” he wheezed again.

Ladybug rushed over to him. “I’m so sorry, I—”

Without warning, a white arm snaked around her waist and pulled her away from her partner. “Stay away from him, my lady!” Chat Blanc snarled. “Filthy akuma…”

Chat Noir squinted up at him, eventually raising a hand to shield his eyes, as if Chat Blanc was too bright to look at. “...what?”

“Chat Blanc, this is no time for jokes! He’s hurt, let me go!”

Ladybug’s exasperated tone seemed to cut through Chat Noir’s daze, because he was on his feet in an instant, baton out, though he stumbled a little before catching himself. Ladybug wrested herself from her not-partner’s grip and hurried back to him.

“I’ll… s-save you, milady,” he said, his voice wavering only a little as he tried to push her behind him even as she started checking him over. “Ju- just stand still so I can hit you,” he said, pointing his baton at Chat Blanc, who responded with a hiss.

“OH FOR HEAVEN’S SAKE!”

Ladybug bounced her yo-yo off  _ both _ their heads, thereby gaining their undivided attention.

“Chat Blanc, this is my  _ partner _ , Chat  _ Noir _ ,” she said, making formal introductions. “Chat Noir, this is Chat  _ Blanc _ , who, in a different timeline, was an akumatized version of  _ you, _ but apparently  _ isn’t _ an akumatized version of you right now.”

Both of them stared at her, then at each other, then back at her. Chat Noir held up a hand. “So… he’s here why?”

Ladybug sighed. “Chat Blanc is my lucky charm for this fight, and we were just trying to figure out  _ how and why _ when you got flung over here, too, Chat… Noir,” she finished when both of them blinked at her. She rubbed her temple, not quite sure she was up to dealing with two ridiculous cats. Especially when one of them was giving her flashbacks.

“Wait…  _ he’s _ your lucky charm?” Chat Noir asked then. He was standing more securely, and seemed more alert as well. “That means you’re going to transform soon! We’ve got to finish this fight!”

“No, wait!” Ladybug held out a hand to stop him. “I’ve already transformed and fed my kwami. We’ve got time.”

“You have? And he didn’t disappear?” Now Chat Noir was definitely getting suspicious again. “You haven’t been trying to romance her, have you?”

“Forgive me, um…” Chat Blanc looked over at her.

“Ladybug,” Ladybug supplied wryly.

“Right.  _ Ladybug _ and Chat  _ Noir _ ,” Chat Blanc spoke up, rubbing his own temple. “Listen, this is just as hard for me as it is for you. Where I come from, you two are… well, the evil versions of me and my partner.”

Ladybug stared at him for a second before shaking her head sharply. “Ok, right now we need to focus on the  _ actual _ akuma. Chat Noir, what happened to get you out of the fight? And now that we have  _ him _ , do you think we need any of the others?”

Chat Noir grimaced. “Otherdimensionator pulled another ally out of a portal, that’s what happened. And it was the reverse you, milady. Remember Sandboy, bugaboo?”

Ladybug nodded.

“Well, this was worse, because it wasn’t a nightmare. It was positively clawful!”

Chat Blanc’s ears perked up at that. “The reverse of Ladybug? Black suit with red dots?” he asked eagerly, his unnervingly blue eyes glinting.

“Yeah…” Chat Noir said, giving him the side eye. “Anyway, she took one look at me and came after me with a vengeance. There was no getting around her. Or  _ away _ from her,” He shuddered. “Honestly, I think I’d rather face Weredad again.”

Before Ladybug could say anything, Chat Blanc spoke up. “I think this is why your lucky charm gave you me, Ladybug,” he said, smiling now. “If that really is Chanceuse, then seeing me fighting with you will either convince her to come over to our side, or confuse her enough to drop out of the fight entirely.”

“I’m not so sure about that,” Chat Noir put in, crossing his arms. “What if she thinks we brainwashed you, and it just makes her even angrier?”

“If that happens, all we have to do is point out that she’s fighting on the side of the akuma, and hopefully that will snap her out of it,” Chat Blanc said firmly. “Besides, she’s seen me brainwashed before, she’ll know this is the real me.”

Chat Noir grimaced again and held out his fist, “I feel you there, buddy. Being controlled is claw-ful.”

Chat Blanc raised an eyebrow at the pun, regarded his fist for a moment, but then smiled crookedly and bumped it with his own. “This is  _ so _ weird.”

Ladybug, watching the interaction between white and black suited superheroes, had to agree.

\----

Ladybug flipped onto a roof near where the Otherdimensionator was currently rampaging, flanked by two Chats. Her eyes scanned the battlefield, hoping her lucky vision would tell her how best to use her lucky charm. Who was Chat Blanc. Mentally tamping down on her sense of outraged incredulity (she would be  _ having words _ with Tikki later), she refocused on the battlefield in front of her.

The street was littered with odd devices. It seemed that when Otherdimensionator summoned something, it usually only worked once before going inert. Or exploding, judging by the craters and burn marks on the street and the surrounding buildings. The people he summoned, on the other hand… either they went off on their own after a while, or there was some kind of time limit to how long they could stay, because Ladybug didn’t see any of the allies she and Chat Noir had been facing before she’d been flung away from the fight. 

Fortunately, the mirror-verse version of herself seemed to have come to her senses because she was fighting Otherdimensionator herself now, all while he was screaming that she should be helping him since he’d called her there. On the way back to the fight Ladybug had briefly wondered if she should have Chat Blanc call his partner on her yo-yo to get her on their side, but it was obvious her counterpart didn’t time to answer a call. She did light up in red and black spots, though, which was a huge relief. 

Chat Noir often teased her about the convoluted schemes she was forced to apply sometimes, but honestly, she only came up with those because her lucky charms were the most bizarre things! This time, at least, she knew exactly what to do.

She turned to Chat Blanc, but before she could say anything, Chat Noir seized her hand and kissed it, startling her enough that she actually blushed. “Chat!” she protested. “This is hardly the time!”

“Sorry, bugaboo. Couldn’t resist. Besides, we’re about to go into battle! I figure one last kiss from your knight in shining leather is a requisite!”

He grinned innocently as she huffed and turned back to Chat Blanc, simply saying, “Are you ready?”

Chat Blanc had the nerve to actually chuckle at Chat Noir’s display, but he nodded.

“Good,” Ladybug said, and without ceremony, she wound her yo-yo twice around his waist and flung him around in a wide circle to gain momentum, releasing her yo-yo at the perfect moment for him to arc gracefully across the battlefield and collide with his partner... incidentally removing her from the path of a weapon’s beam that was powerful enough to dig a deep trench into the asphalt. 

“Ha!” Ladybug shouted. “Did you see that? I saved myself this time!” She grinned at a bemused Chat Noir.

“And I’m betting you’ll never let me  _ furr-get _ it, bugaboo,” he said, smiling fondly at her. “But when the Chat’s away, the mice will play, and this Chat is more than ready to scare the mice back into their holes.”

“That one was a little forced- this is not a mouse-themed akuma!,” Ladybug laughed, casting her yo-yo to latch onto a flagpole on the opposite side of the street. She swung herself down, calling over her shoulder, “And if you’re in such a hurry, why are you still standing there?” 

Ladybug heard his laugh ring out behind her, but refocused as she swung, aiming for some piled cars for cover. A whoop and a holler as Chat Noir vaulted more directly toward the akuma kept the villain’s attention off of her and she was able to sneak around the rubble to meet up with Chat Blanc and his partner. She took a moment to look at her counterpart’s suit before she spoke up. It was almost the same as hers, except it was black with red spots, and there was some additional detailing that Ladybug made a mental note to add to her own suit’s design. Not that there was much of a design to begin with. Her first transformation had been fraught with anxiety, after all. She hadn’t exactly been thinking about much except getting it over with.

“What is he  _ doing? _ ” she heard her counterpart grumble. “Does he  _ want _ to get yeeted across the city again? Because that akuma’s going to be a lot less gentle than I was.”

“He’s only doing what I used to, Spots,” Chat Blanc answered. “He’s just… more upbeat about it.”

“And why  _ is _ that? Doesn’t he know how serious this is?”

“I ask myself that question all the time,” Ladybug said, only then realizing she probably should have made more noise coming up behind them.

She barely avoided a yo-yo to the head as they both whipped around to face her, but Chat Blanc held up his end of the deal, catching his partners arm before she could swing again.

“Stand down, Chanceuse. She’s on our side.”

The black-suited Chanceuse glared at her, before crossing her arms and turning back to the fight in progress. “Whatever.”

“It’s true,” Ladybug said, watching Chat Noir swat yet another weird weapon out of Otherdimensionator’s hand. “Chat Noir and I are the mirror versions of you and Chat Blanc, that’s all. We’re not evil, we’re not akumatized. We’re just here to deal with Otherdimensionator. Thank you for your help, by the way.”

“Yeah well, getting pulled through a weird portal when I was  _ already _ dealing with an akuma isn’t my idea of fun, so let’s wrap this up, hmm? I’m already grounded, and I don’t want to make it worse. Lucky charm!”

Ladybug raised her eyebrows, both at Chanceuse’ admission, and at the  _ giant sword _ she summoned. Shaking her head, she summoned her own lucky charm and caught… a rubber lizard. Chanceuse blinked twice and shot her an incredulous look. Ladybug rolled her eyes and sighed, but looked around, quickly coming up with a plan that would incorporate both their lucky charms. 

“And why should we use  _ your _ plan?” Chanceuse asked, glaring again.

“Maybe because this is  _ my _ universe we’re in? And I think  _ you’ve _ forgotten that akumas are  _ victims _ , otherwise you wouldn’t look so eager to use that giant sword!” Ladybug said, getting more than a little frustrated with Chanceuse’ bad attitude.

Chat Blanc placed a hand on Chanceuse’s shoulder and she reluctantly backed down. “Fine. What do you want me to do?”

“I want you to use your sword to reflect sunlight into the akuma’s eyes when I signal you,” Ladybug said without hesitation.

Chanceuse turned begging eyes toward Chat Blanc. “Chat! She wants me to use my  _ sword _ as a  _ mirror! _ ” She flung her hands upward in exasperation.

But Chat Blanc smiled (and there was something suspiciously familiar about that smile…) and merely said, “I dunno, I kinda like this plan, Spots. It has a lot less chance of harming the akuma.”

Chanceuse pouted. “You know the miraculous ladybugs always heal everything.”

“And  _ you _ know that the Lucky Cat Blog has speculated on your violent tendencies more than once, my lady.” He glanced at Ladybug. “Let’s do it their way this time, and if it doesn’t work, we can always try yours.”

Chanceuse continued to grumble, but did as Ladybug directed. Meanwhile, the boys were busy getting Otherdimensionator so riled up that he didn’t realize he was being walked into a trap. It was fascinating watching the differences between the two Chats. They worked well together, but they didn’t have the kind of seamless communication that Ladybug and Chat Noir had, which was a bit odd. Chat Blanc did his job, yes, but he lacked the flair Chat Noir always brought to the occasion, and he hardly punned at all, while Chat Noir was flinging them about like confetti. Ladybug even noticed, as she was getting the last few details of the plan in motion, that Chat Blanc occasionally frowned at his counterpart.

However, the plan went off without a hitch, although Chanceuse took some liberties with her instructions to reflect the sunlight off the blade of her sword. She got a lot closer than necessary, and the Otherdimensionator almost escaped the trap as a result. However, seeing the expression on her face when Ladybug flawlessly used the rubber lizard to find the akumatized item was priceless. In the end it only took a few minutes, with all four of them working together, and then the akuma was released and purified. The damage remained however, because they all went up to the roof of a nearby building so Chanceuse and Chat Blanc could feed their kwamis before Ladybug used her miraculous cure. 

(When Ladybug checked the LadyBlog later, she saw Alya had written an article highlighting just how long they’d spent on that roof all together before the miraculous cure swept over the affected areas and people-  _ well _ over the usual five minute detransformation timer that use of their special powers forced on them. The comment section was rife with conjecture for  _ days _ .)

After everyone had recharged, Ladybug stepped forward, saying, “Are you ready, Chat Blanc?”

Chat Blanc’s eyes flicked to hers and he nodded, but before she could move, he prowled forward to grasp Chanceuse’ hand. Smirking and throwing a sly wink in Chat Noir’s direction, he slowly brought it to his lips. 

“See you soon, spots,” he said, only for Chanceuse to roll her eyes and pull him back by the hand he still held.

“A kiss on the hand? Really?” And without any further warning, Chanceuse grasped his bell and pulled him down into a heated kiss. Ladybug’s eyes just about popped out of her skull, and out of the corner of her eye she saw Chat Noir stiffen.

“OKAY, time to GO!” Ladybug frantically shouted. She thrust the rubber lizard at him, startling him enough that he had to juggle it before catching it. Then, wrapping her yo-yo once more around Chat Blanc’s waist, she flung him up into the air, yelling, “MIRACULOUS LADYBUG!” at the top of her lungs. She could have sworn she heard faint laughter from both of them as the bugs swirled around the place, restoring order and sending everything back to where it belonged.

Ladybug’s blush faded once everything was put back in order, and she was just about to yo-yo away when Chat Noir caught her arm.

“So. I was an akuma, huh? Sounds like there’s something you need to tell me, bugaboo.”

Ladybug winced, thinking of the conversation she’d had with Chanceuse. She was so not ready to have  _ this _ conversation on top of that one.

“Gotta go, ‘bout to transform!” she yelled, even though she’d just fed Tikki and using the cure would still give her five minutes. “I’ll tell you tonight on patrol!” she promised, even as she escaped his grasp and yo-yoed away.


	2. Chanceuse

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nervous about the need to come clean to Chat Noir about his akumatization, Marinette recalls her conversation with Chanceuse before her other self returned to her own dimension.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apologies for how late this is in coming. I had the hardest time not letting this balloon out of control, because there were just so many things Other Marinette wanted to tell herself. 
> 
> Next chapter will be Chat's conversation with Blanc, and after that will come the confrontation with Ladybug.

Ladybug paced restlessly on the same rooftop where she’d met Chat Noir again after the whole Bunnyx/Chat Blanc debacle. She was nervous, but after talking it over with Tikki, they’d agreed that Chat Noir needed to know as much as they could tell him without revealing Ladybug’s identity. 

Tikki had cautioned her to be extremely vague on the circumstances of how they suspected Chat had first learned her identity, but Ladybug did want to let him know the original mistake had been hers. Partly because she didn’t want him taking all the blame, and partly because… well, it  _ had _ been her fault. Bunnyx had made it very clear that it was  _ Marinette’s _ mistake that had caused that future.

Meanwhile, her conversation with Chanceuse kept replaying over and over in her mind, even though she tried to shut it out. The fact that another Marinette existed out there somewhere was hard enough to accept, but that she could be so similar and yet so  _ different _ … that was the real kicker.

\----

With the akuma purified, everyone’s miraculouses were beeping, so they all went up to the same rooftop. Chanceuse and Chat Blanc didn’t seem to want to leave each other, and Ladybug wanted to keep an eye on both of them. She assumed Chat Noir tagged along because he was curious, and after keeping so many secrets from him already, Ladybug didn’t have the heart to send him away.

  
  
  


Their counterparts needed to recharge before they went back to their own akuma fight, and Ladybug had to admit she was curious. And when she saw Chanceuse and Chat Blanc heading toward the same bit of cover, she took the opportunity to grab Chanceuse and pull her over to a different air conditioning unit. It was increasingly obvious that her counterpart knew Chat Blanc’s identity, but that was no reason to flaunt it in front of Chat Noir.

“What was that for?” Chanceuse complained.

“Chat Noir does not know my identity and I don’t know his, and he’s made it very clear in the past that he wants to do a reveal. How do you think it looks if you and Chat Blanc just go off and detransform together? Do you have any idea how much flak I would get over that?”

Chanceuse rolled her eyes. “So just do the reveal already.”

Ladybug pulled back, horrified. Her earrings beeped one last time and Tikki flopped out of her earrings. Marinette quickly caught her and shut her into her little purse where there was a macaron waiting for her. The last thing she needed right now was a lecture on how she shouldn’t be conversing with herself. Chanceuse sighed and detransformed as well, catching her own Tikki. Marinette stared at the small sprite. It was so strange to see her in someone else’s possession, even if that someone was technically still herself.

“You let them do a reveal?” she suddenly burst out. She couldn’t help but feel hurt, even though her alter ego and her partner were from a different dimension.

The other Tikki shrugged her nubs, munching on a macaron the other Marinette had pulled out of her hoodie pocket. Marinette pouted, turning her attention to her alter ego while her kwami ate.

She’d assumed any version of herself would have the same kind of fashion sense as she did, but here stood a Marinette wearing a loose navy hoodie and slouchy jeans. Her hair was still in pig-tails, but it was messy and her ears were double pierced- something the transformation apparently hid. In one hole she wore the miraculous, but the other had spacers put in. 

The other Marinette eyed her up and down, taking in the ballet flats, pink jeans, white floral t-shirt, and charcoal blazer. “Cute outfit,” she said, in a tone that made it seem she was just saying it to be polite.

“What  _ happened _ to you?” Marinette blurted out, then clapped her hands over her mouth. “I’m sorry- that was totally out of line, I-”

“No, it’s alright,” Other Marinette said. “And to answer your question: Chloe and Lila.” She fished another cookie out of the pocket of her hoodie, and Marinette was glad to see that it was at least still a macaron in good condition.

“So… what happened with them?” Marinette ventured to ask when her double didn’t go on.

“Hm? Oh, not much. It’s just that between the two of them, they’ve convinced everyone that I’m a horrible bully. And my parents, I’m sorry to say, have also bought the lie. So- everything is checked and re-checked, I spend lunches in Mr. Damocles’ office, and none of our classmates want to give me the time of day. Except for Lila, who acts nice while everyone else is around, but taunts me as soon as she’s gotten me alone.”

Marinette covered her mouth again. “That’s… horrible.”

Other Marinette nodded. “Yeah. And it doesn’t help at all that I have to duck out so often and miss classes to fight akumas. I thought about giving the miraculous back, actually, but then Fu skipped town, so I’m stuck as the Guardian, and well…” She looked off across the roofs. “You were pretty judgy back there, but akuma fights are pretty much the only time I can let off some steam right now. Well, that and patrol.”

“But what about Alya and Nino and A-Adrien?” Marinette asked, not really sure she believed her three closest friends would believe  _ Chloe _ , of all people. Lila, unfortunately, was a different case, but... “I mean, Adrien at least knows about lying Lila...”

Other Marinette raised a questioning eyebrow at her. “I don’t know who Alya is, but Nino and I haven’t spoken much at all this year, he stays pretty focused on his playlists. Adrien… I don’t suppose you mean Adrien Agreste?”

Marinette nodded. 

“Hm. Well, he doesn’t go to my school. I think he attends some kind of private academy.”

Marinette felt her mouth drop open. “I’m… I’m sorry. Alya is my best friend. She joined my class the same year that Adrien did, and… well, she’s the one who gave me the confidence to be Ladybug. She.. she doesn’t quite believe me about Lila, but Adrien knows that Lila lies, and he can keep Chloe in check, too.” She shut her mouth, wondering if all this would make her other self even more bitter.

Other Marinette stared at her. “You mean to tell me that Adrien Agreste goes to your school? And you  _ still _ haven’t-” she cut herself off, huffing a laugh. “Oh man. Are you dating him?”

Marinette felt the blood rush to her face again. “NO! No, I… I can’t ever seem to confess right. I mean, something always goes wrong. Anyway, he just sees me as a friend,” she said sadly. “I’m pretty sure he and Kagami are dating, anyway.” 

She looked up to see her alter ego groaning and rolling her eyes. “Tiiiiiikkkiiiii…” she whined. “I  _ have _ to tell her!”

But at that, her kwami rose up glaring. “You know you can’t do that, Marinette,” she scolded. “She has to figure things out for herself, just like you did.”

“Yeah,  _ after _ I got akumatized,” Other Marinette retorted.

Marinette folded her arms defensively, troubled by the reminder that she’d been akumatized in a different dimension. “I’m glad to see your version of Tikki still has  _ some _ sense of responsibility.”

Other Tikki whirled to glare at her. “My Marinette is the Guardian. Among other things, it is now her  _ duty _ to know who has a miraculous and who doesn’t. You should really consider how things will go if your Chat ever has an accident or has to leave the country because of something in his civilian life that he can’t get out of.”

Marinette drew back, feeling attacked. “I  _ can’t _ know who he is! And he  _ definitely _ can’t know who I am,” she insisted. “It’s too dangerous.”

“Why?”

The simple question caught her by surprise. After all, she’d heard the same reasoning and rhetoric from Master Fu and Tikki so many times that she no longer questioned it. Now that she was challenged, she found her mind going blank. A vision of Chat Blanc swam before her eyes, but not the version she’d just been fighting beside.

“Chat… he got akumatized somehow. I don’t know how, but I know it was my fault. I… I delivered a present to Adrien as Ladybug because he was out of the house and the last time I left a gift with Nathalie, Adrien came to school the next day thinking his father had given it to him.” Marinette shrugged. “It was stupid, and a huge mistake because apparently that led to Adrien figuring out who I am, and… I guess he must have told someone because when Bunnyx took me to fight Chat Blanc he knew my name- my real name. And… and he said our love destroyed the world.” She shuddered. “It was horrible- Paris was completely flooded and the Moon was shattered… At one point during the fight I fell into the water, and there, at the base of the Eiffel Tower was an ash statue of… of me. And Hawkmoth. I still don’t know what happened, but I can’t risk it happening again.”

She looked up to see her alter ego and her kwami exchanging a look. Then Other Marinette snorted. “Okay, first of all, I do  _ not _ believe that  _ your love for Chat _ destroyed the world. I mean, Chat is nothing if not a drama queen. I don’t know how it was for you, but before our reveal he was always showing up to fights and patrols with roses and trying to arrange for uber romantic dates, and he was constantly declaring his undying love for me. Does that sound familiar?”

Marinette nodded reluctantly.

“So why on earth would he be different as an akuma? Except that he was feeling guilty and one thing I’ve learned is that A-Chat has been conditioned at home to think that anything that goes wrong is somehow his fault.”

Marinette stiffened at that… on one hand, she really shouldn’t know what Chat’s home life was like, but on the other…

“So it doesn’t surprise me  _ at all _ that as an akuma he decided the one thing that made him happy was the cause of it all.” Here she took a step closer to Marinette, taking both of her hands. “But what have we always said about akuma victims?”

“It’s… not their fault.” Marinette answered slowly, feeling the weight of her own guilt slowly ease under that epiphany. Why hadn’t she thought of that before?

“Right. It’s  _ not _ their fault. It’s only  _ ever _ Hawkmoth’s fault,” Other Marinette said firmly. “My guess is that Hawkmoth was probably ordering the akuma to do something he was trying to resist and somehow he lost control. Or maybe he tried to turn his power on himself and it backfired. The point is, what happened wasn’t because of you or him, it was only Hawkmoth.”

“But I still don’t know how he was akumatized in the first place, then!” Marinette burst out. “How do I know it’s not something that  _ I _ did?”

Other Marinette raised both eyebrows at her. “You don’t. But I think you should find out, if only so you can try to avoid doing something similar in the future.”

“But… but I can’t!” Marinette clutched her head, the very idea of prying further into the circumstances of Chat’s akumatization throwing her for a loop. “What if I find out something I shouldn’t? What if I find out who he is, or…”

“Honestly, I don’t get why that scares you so much.”

“Master Fu and Tikki have always said  _ no one _ could know. And… and later Master Fu said that if we found out, we would lose our miraculouses. I can’t let someone else take over, not now! Hawkmoth is stronger than ever, it would be like giving him my miraculous myself!”

Other Tikki flew over, glaring into her face for a moment before unceremoniously darting down and phasing into her purse. High pitched squabbling issued from inside, but Marinette tried her best to tune it out.

“Let me ask you something,” Other Marinette said, crossing her arms. “How many other identities do you know now?”

“Well,” Marinette faltered. Because she knew the identity of every other miraculous user except for Chat, Hawkmoth, and Mayura, and two of them were villains who she had yet to stop. Of course, none of them could get their miraculouses again because of Miracle Queen, so it was kind of a moot point, but...

“Exactly. How is knowing Chat’s identity any more dangerous than knowing theirs?”

“And what if  _ I _ get akumatized? It nearly happened once already! If I know who Chat is under the mask, that just makes it guaranteed that Hawkmoth would win because I could track him down easily!”

Other Marinette stared at her with crossed arms, an almost-frown on her face. “Considering that I really  _ was _ akumatized, I can say with certainty that Hawkmoth won’t be getting what he wants out of us. Obviously, my personal goal was redeeming my own reputation- that was my focus, and from the video footage, and what Chat’s told me about it, I never once referred to getting the miraculous for Hawkmoth.” She looked down. “Honestly, I think that was partially Tikki’s doing. She must have taken the earrings and flown away with them before the akuma really took hold on me. I guess, subconsciously I didn’t know where the earrings were, so I didn’t bother promising them to Hawkmoth. Anyway, afterward Thumper told me about the erased timeline, Chat and I had a long talk. About the pressures on me in my school and home life… about the pressure of being the Guardian all on my own.” She shrugged. “I finally had to admit that I couldn’t do it all on my own. I needed support, I needed  _ someone _ to know about me being Ladybug and all that came with it. It was either Chat or my parents, and since they hadn’t believed me over Lila…”

She looked up then, and Marinette glanced away from those too-knowing eyes. “You know what I’m talking about, at least partially, don’t you? How everything is just that little bit harder because now you don’t have Fu to fall back on. It’s all on you, and  _ no one knows. _ I bet it’s getting harder for you to find good excuses for skipping out on classes and work, too. That’s another benefit to Chat and I knowing each other. We can be each other’s alibis. His mom isn’t too thrilled that he’s dating an apparent delinquent, or that we tend to run off together during akuma attacks, but she doesn’t forbid him to see me. In fact, I’ve been to dinner at his house a couple times, and she’s always been nice to me.”

It was Marinette’s turn to frown. “I… guess I can understand where you’re coming from. But with me… with us… it’s different. It has to be,” she said softly.

“But are you  _ sure _ about that?” Other Marinette pressed, then shook her head impatiently. “Listen, my Tikki’s all charged up again, and Chat Blanc and I should really be getting back to our own dimension. But just… think about what I said, okay? If you get a hold of Bunnyx- and yeah, I know how hard it can be to get the attention of the Rabbit Miraculous holder- ask her what really happened with your Chat’s akumatization. I can pretty much guarantee it was not due to ‘your love,’” She rolled her eyes while making the finger quotes.

Marinette took a deep breath… and nodded. One of the kwamis phased through the fabric of her purse and returned to Other Marinette. Marinette opened the purse and looked down at her own kwami. Tikki stared up at her with large, slightly disgruntled eyes and simply nodded.

“Spots on!”

“Spots on!”

Ladybug and Chanceuse made their way back out into the open without saying anything else to each other.


	3. Chat Noir

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adrien gets to chat with Chat Blanc.

Chat Noir didn’t know what to think of it all. His Lady conjured an actual human being as her Lucky Charm- and it wasn’t just any human being, it was  _ him _ ! Only, well,  _ not _ him. A weird, reverse image of himself as a superhero. White suit, blue sclera- even the ring was white instead of black, the pawprint on its face a glowing blue instead of the acid green he was used to. 

And then to make everything even more confusing, Ladybug admitted that this reverse Chat Noir was apparently an akumatized version of  _ himself?? _ Chat was pretty sure he should remember being akumatized! At least, as far as waking up to himself in a different place with Ladybug standing there ready to comfort him. He wouldn’t remember what he’d actually done as an akuma of course, but he would remember waking up from it… right?

And she’d looked so guilty, too. And scared. He must have been one scary guy as an akuma. Considering that his power was destruction, he could just imagine what Hawkmoth might have done with that powerset.

And now here he was, face to face with the reverse him, who  _ wasn’t _ an akuma, and yet shared the same color scheme. Was there some kind of message in that? He’d come to respect Ladybug’s lucky charms, they always seemed to have at least one other purpose than the (not so) obvious one.

So what was this lucky charm’s other purpose? He’d noticed that Chanceuse and Chat Blanc seemed to know a lot more about each other than he and Ladybug did. So when it seemed that they were prepared to detransform  _ together, _ and Ladybug unceremoniously pulled Chanceuse away with her to prevent that, Chat decided to follow Blanc.

“So... what’s with the white suit?” he asked, as they hid in a little alcove made by the bulk of an air conditioning unit installed right by a curtain wall.

“What do you mean?” Blanc asked, with a cheeky grin. “White is a classic choice for heroes!”

Chat raised a sceptical eyebrow. “Classic? Maybe, but um, it’s the  _ black _ cat miraculous. Plus, you know,” he pursed his lips and flexed a lot more subtly than usual. “I think I look pretty cool in black.”

Blanc’s transformation dropped, sending an exhausted Plagg dropping into his hands. To Chat Noir’s surprise, this other Plagg didn’t immediately whine for stinky cheese. Instead…

“Yes! Exactly what I’ve said all along- the kid’s right!  _ Black  _ is the traditional color! White can’t be “classic” because you’re literally the first Kitten I’ve ever had who  _ completely ignored _ the name of the ring! _ ” _

Other Adrien rolled his eyes but smiled a little as he fished some camembert out of his pocket. Adrien noticed that he was wearing different clothes. In fact, it was a school uniform that reminded him forcefully of Kagami’s- very different from the Gabriel ensemble Adrien habitually wore. Speaking of…

“Claws off,” he said, and his own kwami dropped into his hands.

“Aaadrieeenn…” Plagg whined. “Why did you keep me cooped up when there was delicious camembert to be eaten? Don’t you care about me at all?”

Adrien rolled his own eyes. “Yes, because less than a minute of watching someone else eat this disgusting cheese is obviously cruel and unusual.” He got his own slice of cheese out, wincing at the stronger than usual odor wafting from it.

“But seriously,” Adrien then continued. “Why did you choose white?”

“Well,” his counterpart said, “It just seemed right. I mean, when Stoneheart appeared and I found the miraculous in my room, I just thought, who’s the guy who slays the monster? The knight, right? And what’s more iconic than the White Knight?”

Even without seeing the other Plagg’s expression, Adrien could feel the kwami’s disgust.

“I am not here to fulfill some crazy inner ideal! I am DESTRUCTION! You hear me? I am dangerous with a capital D, and your insistence on this farcical interpretation of my powers is  _ insulting! _ ”

Adrien had to stifle a snort at the other kwami’s indignation. He got the idea this was a regular argument between them, kind of like Plagg’s insistence on labeling Marinette his girlfriend when she was obviously just a very good friend. Meanwhile, his own Plagg was watching the two with wide eyes, for once eating his camembert quietly, and in neat little bites. Other Adrien and Other Plagg continued to progress along what seemed to be a well-worn path of argument- Other Adrien with a mischievous glint in his eye, and Other Plagg getting even more vocal and vociferous.

After a few moments, Plagg floated over to whisper in his ear. “I never thought I’d have to say this, but thank you for not changing my colors, kid.”

Adrien really did snort then, recapturing the Other Adrien and Other Plagg’s attention. Adrien coughed awkwardly and cleared his throat. 

“So, um, I don’t want to always be commenting on your clothing choices, but what’s with the uniform?”

Other Adrien raised an eyebrow. “It’s… our school uniform? You know, ------- Academy. I’m surprised you’re not wearing yours.”

Adrien raised his eyebrows. “Hey, that’s where Kagami goes!”

“Tsurugi? Yeah!” Other Adrien said, getting excited. “She’s really awesome, isn’t she? I still can’t beat her in fencing more than a quarter of the time.”

“Yeah…” Adrien said with a nervous chuckle. Even though he knew Other Adrien was with Chanceuse, he himself was trying to get  _ over _ Ladybug, and Kagami seemed the best choice by far. Of all the girls he actually knew- who had expressed romantic interest in him- she was the one he could actually see himself with. That said… she wasn’t his Lady. There was  _ no _ chance she was actually Ladybug. He knew that, because he’d seen her as both Kagami and as Ryuuko in the same place and at the same time as Ladybug. At the time Ryuuko debut, he hadn’t been disappointed, just grateful and enthusiastic that one of his friends had been chosen to be a temporary hero. 

No, he hadn’t been disappointed, because at the time he hadn’t really considered dating her as more than a passing thought. But since then had come Multimouse- another one of his close friends being chosen as a temporary hero, but this time... Adrien ruthlessly ignored how disappointed he’d been when he saw Multimouse detransform into Marinette, because that meant... Of course, Plagg  _ had _ warned him earlier, before they’d transformed to go fight Kwamibuster… but Adrien couldn’t deny the excitement he’d felt when he thought about his sweet- if clumsy and shy- classmate also being his partner in spots.

Of course, detransforming like that had been a thoughtless action on Marinette’s part, but she’d been an absolutely amazing hero, able to handle not just one, but several miraculouses at a time. He was pretty sure even Ladybug would have had problems with that. Not to mention how she’d executed Ladybug’s brilliant plan with practically no help. He knew how hard that could be, but Marinette had performed flawlessly. And of all his friends, Marinette was the one who most exemplified the things he admired in Ladybug. It was just too bad that, like Ladybug, she didn’t seem to be attracted to him.

So he’d settled on Kagami as his best bet, but as much as he wanted to, he just couldn’t quite commit himself to her the way he knew he should. He felt good when they were together, and they’d had a lot of fun so far, but when they were apart, guilt ate at him.

“So, Kagami,” Adrien began. “How is she? In your world, I mean. Do you two sneak out of fencing practice a lot? It took some convincing at first, but she’s really enjoyed the times I convinced her to go to a Kitty Section practice instead.” Even if his counterpart was with his version of Ladybug, Adrien was still curious what kind of a friendship he had with his own choice of (maybe) girlfriends.

Other Adrien blinked. “I’m not sure what you’re talking about. Kagami’s never been the type to flout the rules like that. And anyway, why would we have to sneak out? And what’s Kitty Section?”

Adrien’s mouth dropped open. But then he started thinking. Of course, if his counterpart didn’t go to the same school as he did, he would have different friends. And since it was a private school, Father would be less likely to object to the friends that he made there, which meant he might have more leniency to meet up with them casually. Or even invite them over!

“Oh. Right. Kitty Section is this cool band I play keyboard for sometimes. My friends...,” he sighed. “Father doesn’t really approve of most of them. I have to sneak out if I want to hang out with them, and take advantage of every free period at school. So… I guess that means you don’t know Marinette Dupain-Cheng, then. I mean, unless you remember her from Father’s hat-design competition. I know I would…” He smiled to himself, remembering how, instead of getting flustered and stumbling over her words, Marinette had almost effortlessly defended herself against Chloe’s accusations and proved that Chloe was the one who had stolen  _ her _ design.

He looked up when Other Adrien didn’t say anything to see that he was staring at him with the strangest expression on his face. Finally he rubbed the back of his head and said. “Oh, Marinette..? Yeah. Yeah, I um, know her pretty well, actually.”

“Oh really! Great!” Adrien said, relieved that his counterpart shared at least one of his closest friends. 

Other Adrien narrowed his eyes at him. “So I take it you know Marinette well, then…”

“Well, a little. She sits behind me in most classes. I like to think we’re pretty good friends! But you know how she is.”

“I do... I’m not sure what  _ you _ mean by that, though.”

“Well, you know… the word salad, and it’s like I always take her by surprise, and then either she runs off, or I have to go before we can get a proper conversation going. I mean, I actually like hanging out with her more as Chat Noir than myself because she’s so much less… chaotic?”

Other Adrien made a sound of assent that didn’t quite mask a choked off laugh, and Adrien saw he was biting both of his lips trying to hide a smile. He cocked an eyebrow. Other Adrien gave up and grinned, chuckling a little.

“You know those are signs she’s got a crush on you, right?”

Adrien rolled his eyes and huffed. “Not you, too. Look, I’ve asked, alright? Twice. And both times, she told me she was just into fashion.”

Other Adrien facepalmed. “Ok, that was a lie.”

Adrien flung his arms out. “Marinette wouldn’t lie!  _ You _ should know that. She’s our Everyday Ladybug, for crying out loud!”

Other Adrien gaped at him. “Tell me you did  _ not _ call her that. When?” he demanded. 

Adrien reared back a little, wondering just what Marinette’s counterpart had done to merit so much anger from his double. But then he remembered that Other Adrien was with his version of Ladybug, so… maybe he was insulted that Adrien had compared the two? Well, he would just have to live with it, because Adrien was standing by it. Marinette  _ was _ an Everyday Ladybug, period.

“At the Hero’s Day picnic, of course. She was feeling guilty because she’d promised us this big picnic, but then her parents got a whole bunch of new orders at the bakery, so we all chipped in by bringing a dish of our own. So I called her that to cheer her up because she does so much for all of us- kind of like Ladybug does for the whole city.”

“And you  _ still _ haven’t…?” Other Adrien groaned, actually bending over a little with his face in his hands. “Plagg, he’s actually worse than I was! I can’t-” He stood up straight and huffed. “I can’t deal with this, and we’re running out of time.” He chewed his cheek a little before asking, “You said something about… Father?”

“Yeah…”

“You mean,” Other Adrien took a deep breath, expression suddenly serious. “He’s not missing?”

Adrien’s eyebrows shot up, his eyes widening to their fullest extent. He licked his lips nervously. 

“No! No,  _ he’s _ not. But, mom is,” he said slowly. He watched as Other Adrien’s expression ranged another gamut, easily picking out astonishment, pity, and guilt this time.

“I’m sorry,” Other Adrien said quietly. “Mom… mom took it pretty hard, when dad disappeared from the hospital. One time, when she was trying to pull herself together for dinner, I heard her talking to herself and she… she said it was a good thing that it was him that went missing instead of her. That if either of them had to go, it was a good thing  _ she _ was still here. For… for me,” he finished, awkwardly rubbing his arm and refusing to make eye-contact.

Adrien stumbled back a little, breathing hard. There was suddenly a solid knot of pain in the center of his chest, which he futilely tried to cover and ease with his own hand. He gasped a shaky breath. “... wow.”

Plagg drifted up to press a nub to his cheek, purring just loud enough for him to hear. Adrien blinked back tears.

“Is it really that bad?” Other Adrien asked softly, eyebrows drawn together.

Plagg turned to look at him. “Kid, you have no idea. His dad is colder than an iceberg, and the only reason this one smiles at all is because of me.”

“Ha!” Adrien laughed weakly. “Yeah right, you cheese gremlin.” He quickly wiped his eyes, summoning one of his model smiles. “I mean, don’t get me wrong, being Chat Noir is amazing. And I know you try your best to cheer me up when Father is… less than understanding. But you’re hardly the only reason I smile.” He took a deep breath and forcefully shoved all the visions of what life would be like if only it had been  _ Father _ who disappeared, into a deep, dark crevice in his mind, only looking back up when he was sure nothing of his sudden jealousy showed on his face.

“I’m glad you have mom. Is… is she…?” He floundered for the right words. How exactly could he tactfully ask if his missing mother made a better or worse single parent than his Father?

“Controlling?” Plagg supplied. “Neglectful? Full of her own importance? Too busy to even eat a single meal with you more than once a week?”

“Plagg!” Adrien glared. “Father cares, he just,” he wilted under the kwami’s glare. “He just doesn’t know how to show it.”

“Uh-huh.” Plagg crossed his little arms, plainly unconvinced. “That’s the same thing you told your evil twin, and it wasn’t true then, either.”

Adrien rolled his eyes, and turned expectantly back to Other Adrien, who was looking pained.

“No,” he said. “Mom isn’t- she’s not like that. She needs me a lot, because- well, she’s afraid something will happen to me, too. She’s… fragile. So, I stay home a lot just to be with her. Honestly, I’d probably still be homeschooled if she was up to it, but she’s not, and Nathalie’s busy running the company, so… anyway. But it’s not like she won’t let me go out or anything! I go out with my friends all the time!”

Other Plagg snorted at that. “Yeah, when she doesn’t conveniently “have an episode” at the last minute.”

It was Other Adrien’s turn to glare at his kwami. “It’s not like she does it on purpose, Plagg. It’s only been a little over a year, and still there’s no progress on finding who took dad, or what happened to him.”

“What  _ did _ happen? If you don’t mind,” Adrien asked, rubbing the back of his own head. “I… I can’t tell you anything about mom, except that she was getting dizzy and fainting a lot, and then one day I woke up and she was just… gone. Father refuses to talk about it, or answer any questions, so…”

Other Adrien frowned. “It was kind of like that for dad, too. He kept getting dizzy and passing out, and coughing a lot. One morning he just didn’t wake up. The doctors said that he was in a coma, but they couldn’t figure out why. Mom was going to have him transferred to a special hospital, where the doctors specialized in neuroscience, but… someone kidnapped him from his hospital room in the middle of the night right before the transfer was supposed to happen. No one expected anything like that, so… anyway, for a while the police were sure there would be a ransom note, or something like that, but no one’s contacted us this whole time. Mom put a reward out, but we haven’t even gotten false sightings for about six months now.”

Adrien shivered. The cases were so parallel… even though Other Adrien had more information on what had happened, he was sure something very similar had happened to his own mother, except the part about the hospitalization and subsequent kidnapping. Unless… he felt lightheaded as a horrible, awful,  _ dangerous _ thought hit him. For a moment he wavered on his feet, but then his reflexes kicked in, one hand shooting up to support him against the AC unit. 

Could Father…  _ could _ he have mom stashed away in some private hospital? Was he only using the disappearance as a way to boost his own image- to garner sympathy from the public since his demeanor was so cold?

After one horrid moment, Adrien shook his head, internally denying it. Father might be cold, but he wouldn’t go that far. He loved mom. He’d been different when she was still with them, and Adrien suspected his current behavior was because he wouldn’t let himself acknowledge his grief. It was why he accepted everything meekly, forgiving him even when he didn’t really want to.

Adrien sighed, letting the sudden tension drain out and standing firmly on his feet again. “Ok, so… that’s good to know. I’m glad mom actually includes you that far.”

“Chat Noir! Chat Blanc!” 

Adrien sighed, running a hand through his hair. That was probably Ladybug, calling them back. “Look, you have to go, I know but… thanks. At least I have a better idea of what might have happened to mom now.”

“Yeah,” Other Adrien said, still looking a little guilty. “I uh- look, just do me a favor and _really_ _think_ about how you feel about Marinette, okay? Maybe compare that to how you feel about all your other friends?”

Adrien blinked, thrown for a moment. Then he frowned, sighing. “Are you  _ still _ on that?”

Other Adrien shrugged and grinned. “What can I say? I’m a hopeless romantic.”

“But I'm in love with Ladybug ! And you've got Chanceuse.”

“I know you are, and I do. Just... think about it, okay? And be honest with yourself. Plagg, Claws out!” Other Adrien called, and in a moment Chat Blanc was standing before him again.

Adrien sighed and called for his own transformation. He was still irritated at the inability of literally anyone, other than Marinette herself, to accept that they were just good friends though, so he didn’t bother with his usual elaborate transformation sequence.

Together they walked back out into the open, meeting their respective partners. Chat wished he’d had time to ask a few more questions, particularly about Blanc and Chanceuse’s relationship… and how he’d finally gotten her to agree to a reveal. But perhaps it was for the best. Chat wasn’t sure he would have been able to keep from asking who was under the mask, and he knew Blanc either wouldn’t have told him, or that he would regret finding out that way. As it was, he only smiled at Blanc’s obvious dig at him with the hand kiss, and though his eyebrows rose at Chanceuse’ response, he was genuinely happy for them. 

He might be trying to get over Ladybug, but he couldn't deny that seeing his counterpart successful had given him new hope.


	4. Ladybug

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The much anticipated (and dreaded) TALK about Chat Blanc when he was an akuma.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry this has taken so long. I tried so many variations on this chapter, and nothing seemed to work for a while, even with help from others. But it's finally done, and I'm happy with it! I hope you all are, too.

Ladybug looked up at the grey rain clouds that had started gathering since her arrival, and threatened to ruin the sunset and sighed. If they continued to amass, she and Chat would have to find some other, more sheltered location for the coming talk. But it was fitting for her mood, she supposed.

She would much rather have never dealt with Chat Blanc again, akumatized partner or not. Yet, here they were and she was about to tell Chat Noir what had happened in that erased timeline. In a way, she wished today’s akuma had never happened. But a twinge of her conscience reminded her that while she always  _ said _ Chat Noir was her partner, she didn’t always treat him that way herself. She was too fond of being in charge, of making the decisions, and… perhaps she’d been too rigid about following the rules as well. She knew Master Fu had kept Chat in the dark long after he’d started teaching her the ways of the Guardians, but did she really have to continue that trend?

The things her other self had said ran through her mind again, but a soft sound behind her distracted her. She turned to see Chat Noir, but instead of the easy smile or smirky grin he often wore, his expression was a mix of uncertainty and resignation. Ladybug quailed a little. She got the overwhelming feeling that he didn’t trust her to keep her promise, and that… that hit a little too close to home.

“Evening, M’Lady,” he said, walking toward her and, evidently noticing her own discomfort, trying to force a smile.

“Don’t-” Ladybug said, holding up a hand. “Don’t do that.” Chat stopped where he was and looked hurt, the ears on his head laying flat, and Ladybug realized she’d messed up again. “No, that’s not what I mean!” she said, facepalming and shaking her head. She took a deep breath and explained. “I’m sorry. Chat, please don’t pretend that you’re okay when you’re not around me. I- I’m the one at fault. I’ve kept you in the dark and that’s not fair to you, and I’m sorry. But I’ll tell you now, and… and if you’re still mad at me when you know everything, then you have every right to be, and I’ll try to fix it as best I can.” She looked up at him. “I don’t want to lose our partnership over rules that I don’t even know the full reasoning behind.”

Chat’s expression softened and this time his smile, though small, seemed genuine. “Alright, Ladybug. I won’t deny that I don’t like being kept in the dark, but I can appreciate how hard this is for you. You’ve always been one for following the rules.”

Ladybug bit her lip and walked over to some air conditioning units. “Rules,” she said heavily, as she sat down with her back against one of them, “are comforting. It’s a nice feeling to think that everything will be fine if I just make sure the rules are followed. But,” she patted the spot beside her for Chat to join her, “that’s assuming the rules in question are good rules, with solid reasoning behind them, and even then, there are bound to be exceptions every once in a while.”

“So,” she said, looking out to the horizon. “Chat Blanc.” She opened her mouth to say more, only to feel her throat closing up around the words. Despite everything, she was still afraid.

“Chat Blanc…” Chat prompted after a moment in which Ladybug tried to breathe through the fear.

“R-right,” she said, in a breathless tone. “It was a couple of months ago… It was just an ordinary day. I was out as Ladybug, and then suddenly Bunnyx- you remember Bunnyx, right?- popped out of her burrow right in front of me. I nearly fell off the roof.”

Ladybug tried for a chuckle. Chat remained silent beside her. Ladybug blinked a couple of times, remembering how her own stupidity nearly caused the apocalypse.

“Bunnyx told me that something had just gone terribly wrong in the future, and asked if I had noticed anything unusual. Of course, I had no idea what she was talking about. She took me into the Burrow and I had just a brief glimpse of what looked like a white sphere of open space- no floor, but I could walk across it normally, like there was one. There were circles lining the sphere- if you can imagine the inside of the Tardis, but curved, it was like that. Anyway, those circles were windows into time, and before I could see much, Bunnyx plopped a metal bowl down on my head so I couldn’t see anything in front of me. I mean, that still left all the time windows beneath us, but I don’t think she considered those dangerous. Plus, I couldn’t see much detail anyway.”

“Ladybug,” Chat interrupted. “I’m sorry, but what does this have to do with my akumatization?”

Ladybug stopped, realizing she was wasting time on unnecessary description. “I’m sorry. I… I should just cut to the chase, right?” Another weak chuckle. “Anyway, she told me that something had gone wrong in the future and she needed me to go there and catch the akuma and fix everything. I… I think I asked what had gone wrong, but she just told me that I shouldn’t know too much and basically, just to do my job.” Ladybug pulled her knees up and clasped her arms around them. “She took my hand and led me and pretty soon I felt something more solid under my feet. I took the bowl off just in time to see her disappear back into the Burrow. I think she said something about being able to go back if I messed up.”

Ladybug paused. “I have to say- looking back on it now, that… that wasn’t nice. To just leave me there with no clue what I was even going to be facing, with  _ no _ information on how or why… Anyway, I took the bowl off my head and everything… it was all washed out. Too bright, too white.”

“I heard someone singing softly, and I looked and… and saw you. Only it wasn’t you, it was Chat Blanc. Your suit had turned white and your eyes were blue all the way across. Even your hair and bell had turned white.”

Ladybug looked to her left, immeasurably comforted to see Chat Noir in his signature black, with the green eyes and messy blonde hair. He was looking back at her with concern. Still looking at him, she continued. 

“I didn’t understand what had happened at first. You-  _ he _ was very glad to see me, acting even more like a kitty cat than you usually do. But he went for my earrings pretty quickly despite that. And it was  _ weird _ , Chat. He kept switching between polite and earnest- like you- and madly crazed in the blink of an eye.”

“I- we fought for a little while, and honestly, it wasn’t my best fight. I’ve fought you before, of course, under the control of different akumas, but this was different. He was  _ driven _ and relentless and very, very powerful. And I? Well, I was floundering. He’d…” her breath hitched. “He’d already destroyed Paris, and I can remember seeing the moon hanging in the sky and Chat… it had been  _ shattered. _ ”

Ladybug shuddered and went on. “Anyway, he kept accusing me of not loving him anymore and then… then he used my name. My  _ real _ name. Chat, I was so terrified! He succeeded in pushing me off into the water, and I saw what looked like statues of myself and Hawkmoth at the base of the Eiffel Tower. Only when I went to touch mine, it just… dissolved. Just crumbled away and dispersed in the water.” Ladybug gulped.

“I finally got my feet back under me and started trying to find the akuma, but nothing I tried was working. Finally… Chat I think you were still in there somewhere, because you gave me a clue. You flicked your bell at the same time Chat Blanc was claiming that he wasn’t Chat Noir anymore, and that’s when I knew where that butterfly was hiding. But… I couldn’t get close enough to grab it after destroying your belt and your baton, so… I told him I would give him my miraculous, and he finally let me close enough to grab the bell. I caught and purified the akuma, but…” Ladybug looked away, half-ashamed at how scared she still was at the prospect of Chat truly knowing who she was under the mask.

“But you still knew my name. At that point I knew that if I threw my Lucky Charm right there in the future, it wouldn’t actually change anything. That future would still happen. Paris- perhaps the whole world- would still be destroyed, and everyone the cure brought back would still have the memories of everything that had happened. Plus, I suspected how you might have learned my name, and it turns out it was my own stupid fault. So when Bunnyx opened up her Burrow again, I asked her to bring me back a little further in the past than when we had left. You see… it was something  _ I _ did. I did something as Ladybug that I shouldn’t have done, and I needed to go back and undo it to avoid that future.”

Ladybug stopped there. She wondered if she should say something about how Chat Blanc had claimed their love was the cause for all the destruction. But Other Marinette had been pretty positive that it could not have been that, and she and Blanc were a couple. If anyone would know, it would be her. But there was still a doubt niggling at her. Things were obviously different in that alternate reality- many things. It could be that those differences were what made it safe for them to be together.

Chat sat quietly for a while; Ladybug assumed he was thinking everything over.

“So,” he finally said. “I guess that’s why you’re still so adamant about not revealing identities, huh?”

Ladybug nodded slowly. “Yes. But, my other self said some things…” she trailed off, wondering if it was a mistake to say anything at all. Yet, she had promised to keep him in the loop at least, and that meant he was entitled to some of her thought processes. “It’s really hard, being the Guardian. It was easier with Master Fu, because at least I knew there was a fall-back, a fail-safe. Someone else knew who I was, who you were… if something happened to either of us, it would be bad, but it wouldn’t be a complete disaster, you know? Master Fu could always choose a replacement, or a temporary hero to take over for a while. But now it’s all up to me. And if something were to happen to you, or to me… the other would be left wondering what had happened with no answers.” 

She glanced over at him. He was staring out at the swiftly darkening sky. She waited for him to say something, thankful that the rain seemed to be holding off. She’d half-expected him to jump up and shout at her hint that she was seriously reconsidering an identity reveal. But he just sat staring off into space. Finally, she couldn’t take it anymore.

“Chat? Did you hear what I said? I mean, I’m not going to just drop my transformation on you or anything, but…”

“I heard you, m’Lady,” Chat said quietly. “I heard you describe how my akuma version traumatized you pretty good. I also heard that Bunnyx basically threw you at me with no information. And I heard that you don’t know how I got akumatized in the first place.” He finally turned his head to look at her. “I think that’s a problem, LB. I… as much as I appreciate that you’re finally considering a reveal, I think we should wait on that until we know what happened. I mean, did I- did Chat Blanc- say anything to give you a clue? You know how akumas will sometimes ramble on about their grievances.”

Ladybug flinched. “Y-- He  _ did _ , but Chat I don’t think we should take what he said as fact. Akumas emotions and understanding are often twisted, it’s how Hawkmoth convinces them to accept the power, you know?”

“Ladybug, I need to know.”

Ladybug squeezed her eyes shut. “H-he said that, that we were in love, and that everything was fine until Hawkmoth found out who we were. He s-said that it was our love that destroyed the world.”

Ladybug could feel Chat’s flinch, and hurried to reassure him. “Look, I  _ know _ it sounds bad! But think about it,” she said, desperate to comfort him. “If Hawkmoth found out who we were, then that has nothing to do with whether or not we were in love, right? I mean, yes, he could have used either of us against the other, but…” she trailed off. Despite everything her counterpart had said, the expression on Blanc’s face when he’d said that was seared into her memory. He’d really seemed to believe it.

Chat took a deep breath. “So. That’s why you’ve said that you  _ can’t _ love me the last few times I asked. It’s not just about you loving someone else anymore, am I right?”

Ladybug just nodded, sighing. “Yes.”

“But we still don’t know the exact circumstances.”

“No. I mean,  _ yes _ , we don’t know.” Ladybug corrected herself, feeling an overwhelming urge to slam her head against something. This conversation was certainly taking a toll on her.

“Okay,” Chat said, and his voice sounded a lot more hopeful than Ladybug had expected. “Obviously, what we need to do is find out what actually happened, right? I mean, we can’t really make sure it doesn’t happen again unless we do that.”

“I don’t know, Chat. It could end up like a self-fulfilling prophecy if we try. Plus, there’s identities to consider.”

Chat sighed in exasperation. “But you just said a few minutes ago that you were reconsidering that.”

“And I am,” Ladybug said earnestly. “But there are still a lot of doubts in my mind, and I need to resolve those before I make a final decision. I’m not saying you can’t help me with that- in fact, I’d appreciate it if you could help me shoot some of those down! But… even if I decide it’s safe enough for us to do a reveal, it’s not going to be immediately.”

“Okay well, what if it’s just me? Finding out, I mean. What if we ask Bunnyx to show  _ me _ what really happened?”

Ladybug considered this. “It’s true that you’re the one who would probably have the most control over what happens in your life,” she mused. To her surprise, Chat snorted.

“M’Lady, if you think that, then you haven’t paid much attention to what my home life is like. Not that I’ve said much before, but… let’s just say that I have a rigid schedule to complete every day, and I don’t get much say in what goes on it.”

Ladybug stared at him, guilty all over again at her own thoughtlessness. “I- I forgot! I’m so sorry Chat, I didn’t even  _ think _ …”

Chat actually chuckled. “It’s okay, bugaboo, you’ve had a lot on your mind today. I’m not surprised you forgot; heck,  _ I _ like to forget from time to time, which is why you’ll see me running around Paris randomly some days.”

Ladybug bit her lip, watching him consideringly. “This really is an escape for you, isn’t it?” she said softly. “That’s why you love it so much, why you said you have the most fun with me…” she sighed. “I wish I could see it like that- like you- more often. But while I really enjoy the strength of the suit, and the powers, and most of all, the ability to  _ do something _ when there are akumas rampaging about, it’s getting harder to see it that way. There’s  _ so much _ riding on my shoulders, Chat…” she shook her head, trailing off again. “But that’s another reason why sharing identities might be necessary. I have a feeling it would really help if we could be there for each other in our civilian lives- covering for each other and coming up with alibis and just… making sure neither of us is so frustrated we’re close to being akumatized.”

Chat nodded. “I’ve been thinking the same thing, honestly. I just didn’t say anything because I know how you feel- how you  _ felt _ \- about revealing our identities.” He smiled again. “Anyway, I know I’ll rest better once we can put this little Chat Blanc problem properly to bed.”

Ladybug nodded, chin on the tops of her knees as she stared at the roof. “Yeah. Let me think about that, okay? And you think about it, too- really think about it, not just decide it’s a good idea because you want to do it, alright? And talk to Plagg about it, too. I’m not sure how much help he’ll be, but I know Tikki will have a lot to say about it, and I want to include the kwamis. They might not be human, but they’ve had a lot of holders, and surely something like this must have come up before.” She nodded decisively, sitting up straighter and feeling much better for having a plan. 

“We’ll both take a day- no, two days- and then, if neither of us can come up with a good enough reason not to do it, then we’ll do it. We’ll try to contact Bunnyx and get her to spill the beans on what actually happened.”

Chat stood up, smiling. “That sounds like a good plan. Now. Shall we  _ actually _ patrol, or do you want me to grab some greasy take-out?”

Ladybug actually laughed at his eager, kitten eyed expression, simultaneously relieved and amazed at his ability to compartmentalize. But she had to admit, she felt a lot better too. So she threw out her yo-yo and wagged a finger at him as it snagged on something, falling into the familiar and comforting banter that was their usual working relationship. 

She tugged the string and called out as she let it pull her off the roof, “Work first, snacks later, kitty. Come on!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And so ends this particular fic. I hope you enjoyed it!
> 
> I might at some point go into the meeting with Bunnyx, but if I do that, I'll make this a series. Stay safe and happy reading!


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